How faceless creators are eating influencers’ lunch

The influencer’s new competition has no skin in the game – no, literally.

We used to joke that influencers were born when you gave a ring light to a hot person with opinions. But the next wave of content stars doesn’t even need to be hot. In fact, they don’t even need a face. Just bandwidth, AI tools, and a thirst for conversion rates.

Enter the faceless creator. This new breed of influencer is scaled by tech, optimised for performance, and growing faster than traditional creators can blink.

Faceless creators, also known as virtual influencers or AI-powered content farms, are taking over feeds with the speed, scale, and precision of a TikTok algorithm on steroids.

Powered by cheap, scalable tools like Google’s Veo 3 and Hedra’s Character-3, these creators are redefining what it means to be “influential.” And the numbers are wild. According to eMarketer, some creators reportedly run 50+ channels and churn out up to 80 videos a day, a volume that would make even the most caffeinated YouTuber cry.

And the top earners? They’re pulling in $30,000 to $40,000 a month from brand deals… not by doing GRWM videos, but by optimising for cold, hard performance. This isn’t content creation. It’s content manufacturing. And brands are lining up to get a slice.

So, how does faceless creation work?

At the core of this model is ruthless efficiency. As I mentioned, many of these creators operate multiple faceless accounts at once, using AI tools to mass-produce video content. These are often in formats like “texting stories” that can be auto-generated in seconds. Add a few scripts, sprinkle in a synthetic voiceover, and boom, you’ve got yourself a monetisable piece of content without ever even opening a camera app.

To supercharge reach, some use “phone farms” (yes, actual rooms of cheap smartphones glued to charging stations) to simulate virality and train platform algorithms to favour their videos. It’s a bizarre yet wildly effective growth hack.

They’re paid on performance: clicks, conversions, sales, not “engagement” or vibes. No awkward negotiations over whether a Story view counts. No influencer tantrums about brand alignment. Literally just numbers.

It’s not hard to see the appeal (if you’re a brand.)

Traditional influencers charge flat fees, often tens of thousands of dollars, regardless of whether the campaign performs. With faceless creators, marketers can test dozens of content variations at scale and only pay for what actually works. It’s plug-and-play influence with no talent management needed.

In an age where CMOs are held hostage by quarterly performance metrics, faceless creators offer a low-risk, high-speed alternative to the influencer industrial complex. They can be tweaked, iterated, and A/B tested like ad copy.

They’re kind of like the Google Ads of the creator economy.

BUT, for all its efficiency, this model comes with caveats, and some pretty big ethical question marks.

For one, many human creators are pushing back. According to recent surveys, 31.5% say they would expect their full rate or more if a brand wanted to license an AI avatar of their likeness. So much for cost savings. If the faceless economy starts borrowing real faces, the price tag may spike (as they should, because wtf.)

And then there’s the cultural tension. While brands love efficiency, audiences still crave connection. There’s only so long we’ll pretend that an AI influencer reading scripted drama in a robot voice is “relatable.” At some point, people will want humanity back… or at least the illusion of it.

And let’s not forget: this is all happening in a grey zone of labour, licensing, and platform regulation. Who owns a virtual persona? Who’s responsible when one goes rogue (or just plain cringe)? We’re building a new creator economy faster than we’re writing the rulebook.

So, what now?

For marketers, faceless creators offer a new channel, particularly for lower-funnel, performance-driven campaigns where scale and speed win. They’re not going to replace your ambassador programs overnight. But they are making a strong case for where volume belongs in your content strategy.

For creators, it’s a wake-up call. The bar is shifting from “being the brand” to building a brand that can scale without you. This might mean licensing your likeness, experimenting with AI clones, or investing in content formats that don’t rely on your physical presence (or sanity).

And for the culture? Well… we’re watching influence go from personality-driven to programmatic. The creator economy won’t die, but it did just deepfake itself. Spooky. 

-Sophie Randell, Writer